According to Missouri local news reports, a Caruthersville, Missouri City Hall employee was stabbed multiple times on Thursday morning, June 26, according to police.

Chief of Police Tony Jones said the suspect was mad his water was turned off.

Richard Edward Jaworski, 50, from Caruthersville, is facing possible charges of first degree assault, armed criminal action, burglary first degree and unlawful use of a weapon.

It happened in the water department office around 11:15 a.m.

According to the probable cause statement, Jaworski went in the south door of city hall and walked into the water department. He walked past the service counter with a large knife in his right hand and began violently stabbing Elizabeth Hardesty. The statement shows the attack ended with 13 stabs and/or attempts to stab Hardesty.

Jaworski was met by a another city hall employee as he was leaving the water department and he allegedly threw the knife back over his shoulder in a threatening manner. He also allegedly threw it down the hallway toward a third employee as she was leaving her office.

Officers say they found a large kitchen knife with a black handle on the hallway floor, east of the water department. They say it had what they believe to be blood on the blade.

An employee told officers that Jaworski said, “I’ll teach you to turn my ******* water off.” As he was leaving the building, the employee said he stated, “Call the police, I don’t care.”

Employees were able to provide a description of the suspect and an officer found him on the front porch of his home. According to the probable cause statement, Jaworski told the officer, “Yeah, I did it.”

The officer said Jaworski told him, “I went to city hall with a knife with full intention of killing that ***** for robbing me of my money and turning my water off.”

Police say Hardesty was flown to a Memphis hospital for treatment.

Chief Jones says she came out of surgery Thursday evening and is expected to recover.

According to the city’s website, Hardesty is the water department bookkeeper.

Officers were still on location as of early Thursday afternoon.

According to the Mayor of Caruthersville, City Hall will be closed on Friday, June 27 and will re-open on Monday, June 30 with a police officer on duty during business hours.

Jaworski’s next court date is set for June 30 at 10 a.m.

Understanding Workplace Violence

Workplace violence is violence or the threat of violence against workers. It can occur at or outside the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide. However it manifests itself, workplace violence is a growing concern for employers and employees nationwide.

Any definition of workplace violence must be broad enough to encompass the full range of behaviors that can cause injury, damage property, impede the normal course of work, or make workers, managers, and customers fear for their safety. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines workplace violence as, “violent acts, including physical assaults and threats of assault, directed toward persons at work or on duty.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) expands this definition to the following: Workplace violence is any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse occurring in the work setting. It includes but is not limited to beatings, stabbings, suicides, shootings, rapes, near suicides, psychological traumas such as threats, obscene phone calls, an intimidating presence, and (including cyber-bullying) harassment of any nature such as being followed, sworn at or shouted at.

At the low end of the ASIS workplace violence spectrum above are disruptive, aggressive, hostile, or emotionally abusive behaviors that generate anxiety or create a climate of distrust, and that adversely affect productivity and morale. These behaviors of concern could – but will not necessarily – escalate into more severe behavior falling further along the workplace violence spectrum; however, independent of the question of possible escalation, these behaviors are in themselves harmful and, for that reason, warrant attention and effective intervention.

Further along the spectrum are words or other actions that are reasonably perceived to be intimidating, frightening, or threatening to employees and that generate a justifiable concern for personal safety. These behaviors include, among others, direct, conditional or veiled threats, stalking, and aggressive harassment.

In the instance detailed above, this is Type 2 Workplace Violence:

Type 2: Violence directed at employees by customers for whom the company provides services.

Type 2: In general, these verbal threats, threatening behavior or physical assaults are committed by an assailant who either receives services from or is under the custodial supervision of the affected workplace or the victim. Assailants can be current or former customers/clients such as passengers, patients, students, criminal suspects or prisoners.

The customer/client may be provoked when they becomes frustrated by delays or by the denial of benefits or services.

Violent reactions by a customer may be unpredictable, triggered by an argument, or anger at the quality of service or denial of service, delays, or some other precipitating event.

Measures current performance levels and assesses your readiness to prevent and respond to acts of workplace violence.

Establishes a baseline, and sets up process improvement metrics to ensure the best possible return on the resources invested.

Is completed in a one-hour interview.

How Firestorm’s Workplace Violence Self-Assessment Works

Description of Service: The self-assessment is a series of fifty plus questions that are divided across the following areas of a Workplace Violence Prevention Program:

Program & Framework

Roles & Responsibilities

Risk

Prevention & Control

Monitoring & Triggers

Training & Awareness

Reporting & Investigation

Incident Response

Follow-Up / Corrective Actions

Through a single group interview, Firestorm engages in a conversational series of questions with key representatives from your Workplace Violence Prevention Program. Each question is designed to capture a specific, structured response from a multiple choice selection.

Upon completion of the interview, Firestorm produces a narrative analysis that includes a calculated Preaction Index Rating™ and a chart demonstrating overall scoring by the key dimensions, as well as an overall ranking of program “readiness”.

If needed, Firestorm will propose a strategy for your company to implement a Workplace Violence Prevention Program that will align with industry best practices.

PREDICT. Firestorm’s Workplace Violence Self-Assessment diagnostic tool measures your organization’s current level of readiness, and shows you how to implement improvements with the highest return on investment.

PLAN. With Firestorm’s self-assessment and analysis completed, you can utilize Firestorm’s Workplace Violence Prevention Program ToolKit™ to begin building a program that meets best practices in all categories.

Firestorm has worked with hundreds of businesses, organizations and schools to keep tens of thousands of employees, customers and students safer. Firestorm provided crisis management and crisis communications services to Virginia Tech after the shootings, and more recently to Littleton, CO, Roswell, NM and Jefferson County School District in Colorado (location of Columbine) among others.

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“What should we do now?” “What should we say?”

How you answer the question “What should we do now?” can have far reaching implications for your company or organization. Preparedness and Resiliency are key brand attributes for every company. Crises come as surprises. Control of events and message are lost. Impacts accelerate. Public scrutiny intensifies.

Are you ready? How do you know? Are you sure?

Most executives are trained to make decisions based upon information, data, and policy.

In a crisis,

Information is generally wrong

Data is not available

Policies do not exist

Command & Control is lost

Brand & reputation are under attack

Leadership is involved and engaged personally

Impacts are disproportional

Events are escalating

Speed is quality or even survival

You are the center of media focus

The above dynamics work aggressively against traditional empirical management decision processes. Decisions must be made quickly with limited and often incorrect information.

A crisis is not business as usual. A crisis is business as unusual.

Crises have a short duration, but have consequences that can determine the viability of a business or organization for years to come. If you are explaining, you are losing.

Crises have impacts – for good and bad. Every crisis starts with a combination of opportunity and danger. Where the risk/crisis conundrum balances depends upon your initial critical decisions, your crisis communications, your monitoring of events, and your adjustments made to strategy and actions as events develop. Your company’s reputation, brand, legacy, and profitability hang in the balance in a crisis. Crises are personal. Every crisis is a human crisis. It is your company. It is your people. It is your brand. It is your reputation. It is your career. Doing the wrong thing or doing nothing can create a point of no return.

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In crisis, we assist senior management in developing or implementing a Crisis Management Plan. We provide advice and insight to help managers make crucial decisions, and communication experts to assist with social media communications and public relations. Our Senior Team is ready to help your senior team.

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As the leading crisis management company, our founders, executives, principals, and Executive Council are available to assist as needed. We put together the right team for you.

Call Us Today for a free assessment and discover how we can help in calm and in crisis. 770-643-1114